How to build a website

Basic Website Jargon:

The Internet: A worldwide collection of computers that are connected to each other - this is called a 'network', which carries information to other locations within the worldwide network when requested in the form of website pages, pictures and documents.

WWW: This stands for 'World Wide Web', and refers to the collection of documents that are transported and displayed by the internet.

Website: A collection of related pages that link to each other, and are contained within, a single place on the internet.

Web Page: A single page of data or information.

Home Page/Homepage: The opening or main page of a website, intended chiefly to greet visitors and provide information about the website. A homepage may also contain introductory words and links to other sections of a website.

Website Design:

HTML: HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language and is the established language of computer code. HTML is the 'source' of web documents - it is the language used to write the layout and content of the website itself. HTML is interpreted by the browser in every computer, which translates the code into a coherent website page.

HTTP [HyperText Transfer Protocol]: The protocol [method] for moving hypertext files across the Internet. Requires a HTTP client program [such as a web browser] on one end, and a HTTP server program [for example, a web server] on the other end. HTTP is the most important protocol used in the World Wide Web [WWW].

Hypertext [or Hyperlink]: You should have clicked on one to get to this page! Hyperlinks are text that contains links to other websites, other web pages within the same website or other places on the same page. Clicking on the link [in the case of using a PC, or personal computer] takes the user to that location.

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS): A format used to separate style from structure on Web pages. It is a feature of HTML that gives both Web developers and users more control over how Web pages are displayed. Style sheets are used on this website.

Meta Tag: A special coding tag contained within web pages to provide information about that page. Unlike normal coding tags, meta tags do not affect how the page is displayed. Instead, they provide information such as who created the page, what the page is about, and which keywords represent the page's content. Many search engines use this information when building their indices. If you using Internet Explorer, click 'view' and select 'source' from the menu to view our meta tag.

PHP: Self-referentially short for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor. PHP is a programming language used for creating dynamic web pages. PHP scripts [or programs/applications] run on the server side when browsing the web. They are used to generate web pages from pre-determined formatting rules and parameters.

XHTML: XHTML is a reformulation of HTML so that it conforms to the rules of XML. This means that XHTML is very similar to HTML, except for slight differences in the markup, but it is now an application of XML.

XML [eXtensible Markup Language]: A widely used system for defining data formats. XML provides a very rich system to define complex documents and data structures, for instance a news feed or a glossary. Providing a programmer has the XML definition for a collection of data [often called a 'schema'], he or she can create a program to reliably process any data formatted according to those rules.

Website Hosting:

Bandwidth: In terms of Web hosting, 'bandwidth' describes the amount of data sent across the internet over a period of time. Bandwidth is commonly referred to as 'Traffic'. As an example, a web hosting company may allow '5Gb of data transfer' per month.

Host: Any computer on a network that is a repository for services available to other computers on the network. It is quite common to have one host machine provide several services, such as SMTP [email] and HTTP [web].

Nominet: Nominet is the official registry for .uk internet domain names. They are officially recognised by the internet industry and the UK Government.

TLD [Top Level Domain]: The last [right-hand] part of a complete Domain Name. For example in the domain name www.example.com - '.com' is the Top Level Domain. There are a large number of TLD's, for example .biz, .com, .edu, .gov, .info, .int, .mil, .net, .org, and a collection of two-letter TLD's corresponding to the standard two-letter country codes, for example, .us, .ca, .jp, etc.

Online Shopping

Shopping Cart: Software that allows your visitors to select products for purchase on your site. The visitor is presented with a virtual shopping 'basket' displaying their chosen items.

Merchants: Technical term meaning customers of the providers in the e-commerce industry.

Merchant ID Number: A merchant ID number is required to take credit card transactions. You would probably have to apply for a Merchant ID number for e-Commerce. There are however, usually costs involved. Typically the bank will include set up charges, monthly or annual fees, monthly rental of a terminal for you to process card details, and maybe insist on a dedicated telephone line for the terminal. You will also be charged a percentage of each transaction that they process.

Merchant Status: Traditionally, to be allowed to accept credit cards for any high street business, you must be granted Merchant Status by a major bank and obtain a Merchant ID from them. UK High Street banks have what is known as an acquiring bank service. These acquiring banks are able to issue a Merchant ID and allow your business to start accepting credit cardss. They will authorise or decline each customer transaction, collect payments on your behalf and pay money into your bank account.

Payments Service Providers [PSPs]: Payment service providers [sometimes called payment gateway companies] allow a business with merchant status to take real time credit card payments online. Many companies provide this service, however rates vary considerably.

Secure Payment Page: A web page where the confidential information, such as credit card information, is entered and submitted for processing in a secure/safe environment. A secure page is indicated by the appearance of a padlock in the bottom right hand side of your computer screen. The URL of a secure page is also identified by the beginning of the website address being 'https://'.

General Computer Jargon:

Byte: A set of Bits that represent a single character. Usually there are 8 Bits in a Byte, sometimes more, depending on how the measurement is being made.

Kilobyte: A collection of 1024 Bytes.

Megabyte: A collection of 1024 Kilobytes.

Gigabyte: Often referred to as a 'gig' or illustrated as 'GB', a gigabyte represents 1024 Megabytes.

Linux: A widely used Open Source Unix-like operating system.

Database: A collection of files managed by a specific piece of software and serving one or more applications with data. The major functions of databases are to provide security, consistency, integrity, recovery and performance.

Download: The transfer of data [usually a file] from a another computer to the computer that you are using.

Email [Electronic Mail]: A system for sending and receiving electronic messages [usually text or images] between computers over a computer network, for instance the World Wide Web [WWW].

Encryption: A procedure that renders the contents of a message or file unintelligible to anyone not authorised to view it.

FTP [File Transfer Protocol]: A common method [protocol means method] of transmitting files between computers. FTP is a common method of transfering web pages from a client to a web server.

MySQL: Database management software commonly used to store information for use on web sites. The official way to pronounce MySQL is 'My Ess Que Ell'.

Scaleable or Scalability: Refers to the ability of hardware or software to adapt to increased demands while continuing to work accurately. It also describes how well a solution to some problem will work when the size of the problem increases at a later time. All web sites should be built with scalability as a primary concern, as future expansion may not be possible without an expensive redesign.

Security Certificate: A chunk of information [often stored as a text file] that is used by the SSL protocol [see below] to establish a secure connection.

Server/Server-side: A computer, or a software package, that provides a specific kind of service to client software running on other computers. The term can refer to a particular piece of software, such as a WWW server, or to the machine on which the software is running.

Client/Client-side: A software package that runs on a personal computer or workstation and relies on a server to perform some operations. For example, a web browser is an application that enables you to download and view web pages issued by a web server.

SMTP [Simple Mail Transfer Protocol]: The main protocol used to send electronic mail from server to server on the Internet.

SSL [Secure Socket Layer]: A protocol designed by Netscape Communications to enable encrypted, authenticated communications across the Internet.

SQL [Structured Query Language]: A specialized language for sending queries to databases. Most industrial-strength and many smaller database applications can be addressed using SQL. Each specific application will have its own slightly different version of SQL implementing features unique to that application, but all SQL-capable databases support a common subset of SQL. The text you are reading is stored an SQL compliant database.

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